NEW GAY EARTH

Share Your Stories With Us

Some History of LGBT Related Laws

History of LGBT-Related Laws

Taken From WikiPedia

Throughout history and across cultures, the regulation of sexuality reflects broader cultural norms.

Most of the history of sexuality is unrecorded. Even recorded norms do not always shed full light on actual practices, as it is sometimes the case that historical accounts are written by foreigners with cryptic political agendas.

In the earlier centuries of ancient Rome (particularly during the Roman Republic) and prior to its Christianization, the Lex Scantinia forbade homosexual acts. In later centuries during, men of status were free to have sexual intercourse, heterosexual or homosexual, with anyone of a lower social status, provided that they remained dominant during such interaction. During the reign of Caligula, prostitution was legalized and taxed, and homosexual prostitution was seen openly in conjunction with heterosexual prostitution. The Warren Cup is a rare example of a Roman artefact that depicts homosexuality that was not destroyed by Christian authorities, although it was suppressed. A fresco from the public baths of the once buried city of Pompeii depicts a homosexual and bisexual sex act involving two adult men and one adult woman. The Etruscan civilization left behind the Tomb of the Diver, which depicts homosexual men in the afterlife.

In feudal Japan, homosexuality was recognized, between equals (bi-do), in terms of pederasty (wakashudo), and in terms of prostitution. The Samurai period was one in which homosexuality was seen as particularly positive. In Japan, the younger partner in a pederastic relationship was expected to make the first move; the opposite was true in ancient Greece. Homosexuality was later briefly criminalized due to Westernization.

The berdache two-spirit class in some Native American tribes are examples of ways in which some cultures integrated homosexuals into their society by viewing them, not with the homosexual and heterosexual dichotomy of most of the modern world, but as twin beings, possessing aspects of both sexes.

The ancient Law of Moses (the Torah) forbids men lying with men (intercourse) in Leviticus 18 and gives a story of attempted homosexual rape in Genesis in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities being soon destroyed after that. The death penalty was prescribed.

Similar prohibitions are found across Indo-European cultures in Lex Scantinia in Ancient Rome and nith in protohistoric Germanic culture, or the Middle Assyrian Law Codes dating 1075 BC.

Laws prohibiting homosexuality were also passed in communist China. (The People's Republic of China neither adopted an Abrahamic religion nor was colonized, except for Hong Kong and Macau which were colonized with Victorian era social mores and maintain separate legal system from the rest of the PRC.) Homosexuality was not decriminalized there until 1997. Prior to 1997, homosexual in mainland China was found guilty included in a general definition under the vague vocabulary of hooliganism, there are no specifically anti-homosexual laws.

In modern times eight countries have no official heterosexist discrimination. They are Argentina, Belgium, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, and Spain. This full non-discrimination includes the rights of marriage and adoption. Two additional countries have marriage rights for same-sex couples, namely Portugal and Canada, but in Portugal this right does not include same-sex adoption, and in Canada it varies by jurisdiction (it is legal everywhere except in Nunavut and Yukon). The Canadian Blood Services’ policy indefinitely defers any man who has sex with another man, even once, since 1977. LGBT people in the USA face different laws for certain medical procedures than other groups. For example, gay men have been prohibited from giving blood since 1983, and George W. Bush's FDA guidelines barred them from being sperm donors as of 2005, even though all donated sperm is screened for sexually-transmitted diseases and even the most promiscuous heterosexual men are not barred from donating.

Appreciation to AGM for his contribution.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Archaeologists Find “Gay” Caveman

Archaeologists in the Czech Republic found the 5,000-year-old skeleton of what they believe to be the oldest known gay or perhaps transgender caveman.
According to The Telegraph, the male remains, which date between 2900 and 2500 B.C., were discovered in a way normally reserved for women from the Corded Ware culture in the Copper Age.
“The skeleton was found in a Prague suburb in the Czech Republic with its head pointing eastwards and surrounded by domestic jugs, rituals only previously seen in female graves,” reports The Telegraph.
Archaeologist Kamila Remisova Vesinova said the positioning was unlikely to be a mistake, and that the man was likely someone “with a different sexual orientation, homosexual or transsexual.”
Her colleague Katerina Semradova said at a Tuesday press conference that archaeologists previously had uncovered a case from the Mesolithic period where a female warrior was buried in the manner reserved for men.
Semradova called the new discovery a case of “transsexual” or “third gender grave.”

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has said gay couples will never be permitted to marry.

Speaking at a Catholic conference in Milan, he said: “Gays will never have marriages equal to traditional family values because there is only one family.”

He added: “This government will not allow singles or gays to adopt.”
The 74-year-old leader told the conference he would not resign, despite his own moral troubles.
He has been charged with having sex with an underage prostitute and will go on trial in April.
Police say that Karima El Mahroug, who was 17 at the time, was a guest at one of Mr Berlusconi’s ‘bunga bunga’ parties.
There are also claims that he paid for dancers’ plastic surgeries.
The Italian leader is currently on trial for tax fraud.
Last year, Mr Berlusconi angered gay groups by saying: “I have a gruelling work schedule and if I happen to look pretty girls in the face now and then, well then, it’s better to be a fan of pretty women than to be gay.”

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Justin Bieber: being gay is a decision and abortion is wrong

Fresh from winning a Brit award, teenage pop sensation Justin Bieber has suggested that homosexuality is a choice and that abortion is wrong even when pregnancy is caused by rape.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he appeared to label homosexuality as a choice rather than something that is uncontrollable.
He also spoke out against abortion even when pregnancy is caused by rape, saying “everything happens for a reason.”
The interview for next month’s Rolling Stone magazine has been distributed via blogs.
When asked what his views on homosexuality are, Bieber responded: “It’s everyone’s own decision to do that. It doesn’t affect me and shouldn’t affect anyone else.”
It is not clear whether he intended to label homosexuality as a lifestyle choice.
Bieber’s position stands in contrast with that of Lady Gaga who last year said: “there are some people in this world that believe being gay is a choice. It’s not a choice, we’re born this way.” Her single ‘Born This Way’ has been described as the new gay anthem by Sir Elton John.
In his interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Bieber went on to say “I think you should just wait for the person you’re … in love with,” when asked about abstinence.
Despite his strong Christian background he did not argue against pre-martial sex.
“I really don’t believe in abortion,” he told the magazine “I think [an embryo] is a human. It’s like killing a baby.”
He added that while it is “really sad” for a woman to become pregnant after being raped, he claimed that “everything happens for a reason.”
“I don’t know how that would be a reason,” he added. “I guess I haven’t been in that position, so I wouldn’t be able to judge that.”

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Posted on Advocate.comFebruary 16, 2011

Santorum's Gay Sex Problem

Antigay former U.S. senator Rick Santorum, a potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate, has found the use of his name in connection with anal sex is a hyperlink that’s hard to break... thanks to Dan Savage.

Antigay former U.S. senator Rick Santorum, a potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate, has found that the use of his name in connection with anal sex is a hyperlink that’s hard to break, Roll Call reports.
In 2003 sex-advice columnist Dan Savage was seeking to mock Santorum for his homophobic statements, such as remarks he made in an interview that year to the effect that legalization of gay sex could lead to recognition of “man on child” and “man on dog” relationships. Savage held a competition asking his readers to come up with a new definition for “Santorum,” and the winning entry referred to a by-product of anal intercourse. Now a Google search for “Santorum” will frequently turn up that meaning of the word.Roll Call consulted technology experts, who said there was little Santorum could do to prevent Web searches from finding sites with that definition. The politician himself “sounded slightly defeated” when asked about his “Google problem” recently, the publication reported. “It’s one guy,” Santorum told Roll Call. “You know who it is. The Internet allows for this type of vulgarity to circulate. It’s unfortunate that we have someone who obviously has some issues. But he has an opportunity to speak.”
Santorum added, however, that the phenomenon is an indication of “incivility” in politics. “You want to talk about incivility,” he said. “I don’t know of anybody on the left who came to my defense for the incivility with respect to those things.”
In response to Santorum’s statements, Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund spokesman Dennis Dison told Roll Call, “I think that civility in politics is a fantastic goal. ... Speaking from the LGBT community, we wish he would practice it.”

More than 100 people, including some gay men, have been arrested in Bahrain after the raid of a party described by authorities as “depraved and decadent”, according to local newspaper reports.

Authorities stepped in at 2.30am after complaints of noise and confirmation from an undercover policeman of cross-dressers and gay men drinking and smoking shishas in a sports hall in the village of Hidd on Muharraq Island on Wednesday.

Al Ayam daily newspaper reports the arrest of 127 men between the ages of 18 and 30 from several Arabian Gulf countries, with those arrested either residents of Bahrain or visitors from nearby countries.

The complex was closed on Thursday pending investigation and the organisers are being held separately, the newspaper reports.

Homosexuality is illegal in Bahrain and punishable with a prison sentence, with non-Bahrainis deported after serving their jail term.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Trans, Gay Murders Rock Honduras

Three murders in Honduras have raised the number of LGBT deaths in the Central American country to 31 in recent months, a cause for concern among officials at the U.S. Embassy.

"The protection of Honduran law extends to all its citizens regardless of sexual orientation and the Lobo Administration has repeatedly expressed its commitment to defend the rights of all Honduran citizens," read a statement from the embassy. "It is in this regard that we call upon Honduran law enforcement authorities to vigorously investigate these crimes, bring to justice the perpetrators, and take all necessary steps to protect LGBT persons, who are among the most vulnerable to violence and abuse in Honduras."

Those killed recently include a 23-year-old transgender woman known as Lorenza, according to Gay City News in New York. She was found dead in Comayagüela in December, with bloody rocks near her body, indicating she may have been stoned to death as well as set on fire. Condoms were also found near her body, leading to speculation that she was also raped. Gay City News blames the murders on a government-backed campaign to target gay people.

According to the National Resistance Front's website, which has been keeping tabs on the murders, police have been minimally invested in solving the cases.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Canada Rules Dire Straits Song Offensive

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has ruled that "Money for Nothing," the 1985 Dire Straits song with the famous animation video, is too offensive for broadcast in the country.

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has ruled that “Money for Nothing,” the hit 1980s song by rock group Dire Straits, is too offensive for broadcast because its uses the word “fa**ot.”The Vancouver Sunreports, “The ruling, released Wednesday, responded to a complaint submitted to St. John's radio station CHOZ-FM over a Feb. 1 airing of an unedited version of the song, which mentions the word three times.”
The 1985 song, told from the perspective of a working-class man who marvels at the apparent charmed life of rockers on that new invention MTV, is perhaps even better known for its animated music video, which heralded the dawn of the music video era. The video for the song was the first played on MTV Europe.
In its ruling the Canadian council said that social attitudes had changed about the word “fa**ot” from 1985 to 2010, the time of the complaint last year.
“The council concluded that ‘fa**t,’ when used to describe a homosexual man, is a word ‘that, even if entirely or marginally acceptable in earlier days, is no longer so,’” reported the Sun.

Blog Archive

About Me

I have a "Partner" of several years. We have 3 beagles and quite a few cats. We live a comfortable life with many family members and friends. We love to travel and hope to have more time to do so in the future.